To the homepage of Susan Donath
Welcome

Artist Statement

In my artistic work I am mainly interested in the culture of death and funerals. Sepulchral culture inspires many of my artworks in different ways: burned Stasi-documents (i.e., documents of the domestic intelligence service of the GDR), funeral crowns or real dead bodies in a grave at the Střekov cemetery in Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic), which I maintained from 2008 to 2024. I find it fascinating how things begin and end. I understand death, on various levels, as a change in physical state.

In my recent works, the visibility of former synagogues on postcards in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic forms a central theme. The images of these buildings on the cards are often the only remaining visual records. In the context of the synagogues destroyed in Thuringia in 1938, I am currently exploring the question of what was visible at these sites during my childhood and youth, and what is visible there today.


Latest